US Official Announces Dismantling of 'Iran's Financial Network in the UAE'

On Thursday, July 12, the Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury announced the dismantling of an 'illegal money transfer network to the Quds Force,' the overseas branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Dubai. The American newspaper Washington Post reports that this official also expressed hope that economic dissatisfaction within Iran would limit 'the malign activities of the Islamic Republic in the region' due to external and internal pressures. Reuters quoted Sigal Mandelker, the US Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stating that this network facilitated 'the transfer of millions of dollars to the Quds Force.' The Quds Force, which is the external branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is overseen by Qassem Soleimani, who supervises Iran's military affairs abroad, including in Syria and Iraq. According to Ms. Mandelker, the network, which was operated under the supervision of 'senior officials from the Central Bank of Iran,' was dismantled in May of this year. This official, who has recently arrived in the UAE after a week-long trip to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, stated that Iranian exchange offices were using the UAE's financial system to transfer money out of Iran and convert it into US dollars. As reported by Reuters, these dollars were then used 'for Iranian-backed groups in the region.' Sigal Mandelker refrained from providing details about the exchange offices and officials involved, but her statements may relate to a report released by the US Treasury in May, which announced that six individuals and three entities in Iran were added to the sanctions list for 'millions of dollars transferred to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.' Following this information, the US Treasury also stated that it was working with the UAE to disrupt the Central Bank of Iran's access to foreign currency reserves in foreign banks. Masoud Nikbakht, Saeed Najafpour, and Hassan Khodaei were three individuals added to the sanctions list. Last week, the official news agency of the UAE reported that the UAE's Commodities and Securities Authority had instructed companies in the country to identify and freeze the assets of nine Iranian individuals and entities that had previously been placed on the UAE's 'terrorist' list. Following Donald Trump's official withdrawal from the JCPOA, the US government has intensified its efforts to exert pressure, particularly financial pressure, on the Iranian government. On the other hand, the government of Hassan Rouhani and the Iranian regime as a whole are under pressure from criticisms and protests from the people within the country, who express dissatisfaction with their economic and living conditions every day.